Project Summary Synthesis and Discovery Core This Phase II COBRE will continue on its mission to focus a diverse team of scientists on the discovery of new molecules that probe the function of biological targets. During Phase I, our COBRE developed an instrumentation core, unique to the state of Delaware, that enabled molecular discovery, purification and analysis. The growth of our center and the breadth of services offered through our core facilities have prompted us to reorganize this instrumentation into two core facilities for Phase II: the Synthesis and Discovery (SD) Core Facility and the Analytical Chemistry Core Facility. The proposed Synthesis and Discovery (SD) Core Facility consists of instrumentation and infrastructure for small molecule synthesis, high throughput catalyst discovery, computation and microscopy capabilities that will continue to be broadly used by researchers across the IDeA network and beyond. During Phase II, we will expand the scope of the facility to provide chemistry services to non-specialists across the biomedical research spectrum. The facility will enable biologists, biochemists, engineers, and others access to custom synthesis of molecules they cannot easily make them themselves. The goals of the SD Core Facility will include (1) the development of an administrative framework for the facility and the recruitment of staff to provide core services, and (2) establishment of a Custom Synthesis Laboratory (CSL) that will provide a broad array of synthetic services including small molecule synthesis, purification, chemical assay development and high throughput reaction development and parallel synthesis.